23.09.2024

This play was so boring it put me off from Big Finish for like 9 months. I tried to start over at least 4 times.
Anyway, Chibnall-level of message depth. Non-sensical conclusion, feeling out of nowhere despite being setup from the beginning. Chekhov's guns of "beware the lone cybermen" caliber that make you literally groan out loud when they're resolved.
1/5 if I've ever seen one.

14.11.2023

Outside of a few minor gags, this is horrifically empty. Stinks of Gatiss through and through, but throw a few torture porn scenes on top for good measure. What good it has is derivative and unimportant to the story. Also obligatory "But we don't know what time is" non-sensical mention. 1/5

14.11.2023

Fundamentally misunderstands the Doctor — he unironically treats people as unimportant. Also hinges on the fact the Doctor knows the minutiae of a very specific history event (see Blake the Snake). Also David Tennant plays a caricature. Nothing about this feels Doctor Who. Also I can barely remember the plot just two weeks after listening to this. 1/5

17.10.2023

Great in concept, painfully mid in execution. Mind f**kery where you can't trust what you see, put through the lens of a naïve and trusting character — pure gold when I describe it. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of moments, it falls flat.

Same with the concept of ancient evil and another one of the Doctor's iconic "yelling at ancient evil" speeches. Great in theory, lacking in execution.
I'm surprised this is the one people are remembering when they're choosing from literally hundreds of Five/Peri/?Erimem audio plays. As 2.5/5 as it gets.

02.09.2023

Strong characterization. I immediately forgot they were supposed to feel like characters in a story. Perfect introduction to a new companion award goes here. Ace has a whole new dimension to her while still staying true to the foundation of her character.

They had an interesting direction to take the villain to but chickened out. Shame. This could've been an instant classic.

The procedural part of this episode works just fine. Suspense where it's needed, intrigue where it's appropriate. It loses steam towards the latter half, but it's a decent thriller.

A major flaw is the preview. I don't need to hear the most interesting scenes at the beginning like it's a Mr Beast video. Also confused the hell out of me before I figured out what it was supposed to be.

3.5/5

21.07.2023

Mid. The very conflict that was supposed to prompt the story is pushed aside and forgotten. Then the very conflict that was to prompt the story (a different one) is pushed aside and forgotten.

The story itself is very procedural, with most scenes either developing bland surface-level relationships or going through the plot motions. The deaths of two central characters are comical. The Doctor's outburst at the end feels out of character, I'd rather expect it of someone's first time.

Evelyn's acceptance of her own mortality is interesting though. 2/5

14.07.2023

Mom says i'm a shitty knock-off Joker of no substance, but she just doesn't understand the evil trickster archetype.
Anyway, this play is just noise. Skippable if I've ever seen one. 1/5

21.04.2023

It has a few interesting ideas. Time Lord without time as someone who's lost their soul is very poetic and I'm definitely stealing it someday. Being unable to leave because your mind turns against you is, though nothing new, still a cool concept to explore.
Unfortunately, that's about it. The whole story is mostly filler, with bland characters, bland run-arounds and a bland villain. The cliffhanger is hilarious and ruins the whole arc for me, perhaps. 1.5/5

07.04.2023

A very tasteful play on 1984, with a phenomenally deep lead and a rich world of which you feel every room.

I never would've thought a dystopia would be a logical thematic continuation of a weird timeless world outside the universe, yet it fits perfectly, giving me a new understanding of the genre. This ties up the previous (e52) episode nicely and for my taste concludes the saga perfectly, even if there's more after.

The final twist is the best kind of twist there is.

5/5 and a must-relisten status for myself.

01.04.2023

It's just torture porn. No narrative substance in here, I'll tell you that.

Also an award for the most unimaginative implementation of a great concept. In Scherzo the world with no time felt distinctly alien and incomprehensible, almost lovecraftian. Here it's "What is this time you mention? I don't know this word. Anyway, see you in two days".

Filler after filler after filler, the only scenes of any character substance are downright pornographic in their depiction of suffering. The writer gets off on this, I can grant you this.

Another award for the blandest secondary cast of all time. There's no distinct features for any other character. One of them becomes the companion by the end 🤮...

This ain't it, chief. 0/5

07.02.2023

Difficult to understand what this one's about. Depression, dysfunctional relationship, sure. But there's more then that, something that eludes my description.

Anyway, this is a really captivating piece. A must-listen for sure. I've listened to it twice back-to-back. This happens practically never. There will be a time when I'll be begging you to listen to the Eighth Doctor.

Another absolute banger by Robert Shearman. Four out of four I've listened so far I absolutely fell in love with. What a legend. 4.5/5 for sure, I'll be coming back to this one.

03.02.2023

Wow, that was s**t. Derivative, loud and pointless.

Iris Wildthyme is insufferable. If there's a point to this character, it ain't here.

The twist is laughably bad. The two fractions of aliens are convoluted and ultimately unimportant. Highly skippable, 1/5.

12.11.2020

s**t. The editing is lackluster, many times it feels like they skipped a scene. The story is unfocused, seemingly chasing after several goals, achieving none. Why is there a musical number at the beginning?
1/5. Barely distinguishable from noise.

29.10.2022
BFDW: Bernice Summerfield: Buried Treasures
e02: Closure

That, on the other hand, is nothing short of a masterpiece. I'm almost tempted not to spoil it away in a slim chance you ever listen to this. Nevertheless, a synopsis alone should be interesting enough:

Bernice, a historian and an archeologist, goes back in time to when a ruthless dictator was a baby. There, she meets his mother. They talk.

How brilliant is this? I love how they spin the usual trope to have a meaningful story about the nature of violence and its cyclical nature, how it affects us through generation and how to break out of it. Today especially it hits very hard. 5/5, it's the best a short-form sci-fi can be.

29.10.2022

Harmless. Comedy was mostly not to my liking, but tolerable. Nothing else of note. 2.5/5. It's cute, I guess.

21.10.2022

The strongest in the trilogy. Highlights are the graphic torture scenes, with Bernice's mind literally breaking. Very evocative and truly horrifying.
A big problem is how easily resolved the conflicts are after it is set up that they won't be easy to resolve. This wave-off approach felt confusing more than anything.
It's listenable, with some great scenes it's a textbook 3/5.

12.10.2022

Yeah, passable. The series converges on its main elements more or less, creating a sort of formula for itself. It gets stale.
I don't know why, I just can't stand bugs as villains. I hate the concept. Can't do anything with myself. I wouldn't let it affect the score, but it has to be said. Not that they do anything interesting with it anyway.

Procedural and more of the same. 2.5/5

07.10.2022

Procedural. A lot of awkward exposition. The setting is colorful and vibrant, but not much of substance happens here either. Moral dilemma is bare-bones this time, existing mainly due to antagonists' stubbornness rather than an interesting ideological conflict. The countdown was Chibnall countdown level of bad. The priestess's conflict can be considered interesting if you squint hard enough. 1.5/5

07.10.2022
BFDW: Bernice Summerfield
s01e02: Beyond the Sun

A few cool concepts, but nothing much otherwise. The communist utopia society had an interesting idea of love as possession. It's refreshing to see a nuanced utopia I disagree on certain points with for once.
The story is forgettable though. 3/5

30.09.2022

Meh. I appreciate a story with more mature elements that doesn't hyperfixate on them (khm, Torchwood) (khm, VNA). Bernice wants to f**k her student, but that's not the point. That's just life.

With that said, the core of the story is barely coherent, mostly consisting of what seems dartboard-picked rather then elements suiting and complementing each other.

Brigadier as a talking cat is fun to hear. 1.5/5

30.09.2022
BFDW: Special: Last of the Titans

Very Douglas-Adamsy, in the worst way possible. Noisy and random and incoherent. I couldn't tell you what this story was about if I tried. 1/5

27.09.2022

Zagreus is... a lot. It's messy and brilliant and eventful and confusing and endlessly creative and deeply flawed. Main compliment I can give it is that it feels like an Event. Like a capital-E Event. It's a culmination of several arcs, a lot of familiar faces make an appearance. It feels like a proper season finale. I especially like Once-Upon-Time-style recastings.

The story itself is manageable up to a certain point, but then goes off the rails, introducing new and new story elements, until you can't keep track of it. At one point I stopped following the plot and just enjoyed the characters talking.
A very strong 2.5/5

26.09.2022

Apart from some retroactive lore contradictions to stories which came later, I liked it. Out of the three "Doctor has a somber conversation with the villain" this worked the best.

That's because they Human Natured the Master. That's it. Plain and simple.

There are of course silly moments. The Master was created by Death itself, for example. The long conversations about nurture vs nature that are just one statement repeated over and over.

Yet I can't help but love these bittersweet conversations between the Doctor and John Smith. There's such a profound respect.
4/5

24.09.2022

Interesting how they choose to go into origin stories for these villains. The implication of Davros not feeling love as a result of a broken heart is interesting in practice (even though it sounds tedious in theory), but there's not much else in this story, I'm afraid. Also, Davros' plan here is applicable in every subsequent appearance. There's literally nothing the Doctor can do to stop it, and Davros doesn't have to do anything the second time for it. The plan itself is great though, both in concept and in its realisation.
2.5/5

22.09.2022

Meh. Lore, I guess. But I find the play pointless, really.
The twist is cheap, the implication of the Doctor committing another genocide (accidental this time) is a curious one, but not really explored.
The origins of the name "Omega" are hilarious though. 1.5/5